Why Studying in a Group Worked for Me in the IB

Only some people can work well in a group setting—and that’s completely understandable. As a recent IB Diploma graduate, I found that studying with a group brought far more benefits than working alone. My study group usually consisted of three to four people, sometimes more for harder subjects.

While many factors can make or break a study group—such as the people involved, the environment, and personal commitment—when it works, it offers powerful advantages: motivation, shared knowledge, and diverse perspectives.

Motivation and Support

Let’s be honest: motivation disappears during exam season. My friends and I constantly joked about having no motivation and wanting to just “wing it.” Of course, none of us actually wanted to do that—the exams mattered too much.

So we formed a study group.

We met in the library and created what felt like a mini classroom. I clearly remember one day when I genuinely did not want to study anymore. If I had seen one more practice question, I probably would have lost it. Being with my friends helped me relax, reset, and keep going.

One thing we did well was taking real breaks—breaks where we didn’t talk about IB at all. When studying alone, I struggled with this. I’d tell myself I’d take a ten-minute break, then end up scrolling on TikTok for half an hour. In a group, my friends kept me accountable and helped me return to studying.

Having people around you who support and motivate you makes a huge difference. As cliché as it sounds, teamwork really does make the dream work.

Sharing Knowledge

We truly treated our study group like a classroom—just a more effective one.

Whenever someone understood a topic better than the rest of us, they would teach it. It might sound strange to recreate a classroom outside of school, but it worked because we focused only on what we needed help with.

Math has always been my weakest subject, and unfortunately, math exams were first that year. I was genuinely panicking. During our library sessions, my friends helped me work through practice questions and explained concepts I struggled with. Studying math in a group forced me to actually math—which, sadly, is the only way to improve at it.